College acceptances - small liberal arts colleges?
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Anonymous
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I'm watching the college matches roll in at SWW, DCI, and other local high schools and I'm seeing precious few smaller liberal arts schools on there. It's all big Universities and a few Ivies here and there.
What gives? In my day those were the gold standard for many kids, and as the product of one, I'm a fan. Why aren't kids applying/choosing small schools? These are often the best way to get a really good education. Many are quite famous too - Oberlin, Amherst, Mt Holyoke, Vassar, Barnard, Grinnell, Bard, ..... etc etc. Many of our top kids at my school went to these colleges. Why not now? |
Anonymous
| Because they are extremely overpriced for what they offer? |
Anonymous
| In this economy? |
Anonymous
| There is nothing that these small schools offer that a big state flagship won’t have at half the price. |
Anonymous
| Hmm so they are not keeping pace with their financial aid offerings? They did not used to cost more than other schools once offers were made, except for in-state tuition (and the schools I'm seeing kids going to are not in-state). |
Anonymous
| Those small schools are so great for rich kids who love grade inflation? |
Anonymous
Where are you seeing all these matches? In the past, I'd look at school instagram pages, but I noticed this year that fewer students are posting where they are going. So while I know there are students going to the schools you have mentioned at least from my kid's school, I also know those results haven't been posted. |
Anonymous
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There is a definite trend towards urban schools and big state universities.
One of my kids goes to a liberal arts college and the other a huge rah-rah football university. They both have their pros and cons. |
Anonymous
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My kid goes to a SLAC but I think in general, they are out of favor. Kids are used to having a lot of freedom and seem overall more interested in city or big school life. I think LACS are expensive and often remote and its not really what kids want these days. I also think kids are focused on their careers more than education for education sake and therefore they want to attend highly ranked schools or schools with large alumni bases that can directly help after college.
If you have a kid that wants a LAC, go for it, but its not for most kids these days. (that said, my kid loves his LAC and is thriving). |
Anonymous
| Honestly those schools are just too expensive. |
Anonymous
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Your post just reveals the world you grew up in, which is not generally applicable.
Where I "came from" (UMC suburb public school) everyone aimed for top 10 universities or state schools. I think we had one person in our top 10 percent who went to a SLAC. |
Anonymous
When I see a SLAC on a resume I immediately assume you came from a privileged background and won’t try very hard. Sorry! |
Anonymous
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It's cost.
But I do know of one kid going to Oberlin and one going to Kenyon. |
Anonymous
You should work on your tendency to make assumptions. |
Anonymous
Oof. Maybe a SLAC would have given you the skills to test those assumptions and think outside the box. |